Buried under his batting records is the fact that Tendulkar was an enjoyable and often effective bowler who could turn the ball a mile. Sunil Gavaskar called his range ‘mix pakora’.
Since making his international cricket debut as a teenager till his retirement in 2013, Sachin Tendulkar has been synonymous with batting. Ask any budding cricketer today about their three favourite batters and Tendulkar’s name is bound to feature in the list.
With the performances that he has put in with the bat across the two main formats of his time – Tests and ODIs – Tendulkar’s bowling achievements usually get overshadowed. But he has 200 international wickets to his name (154 in ODIs and 46 in Tests).
Anyone who has followed Tendulkar’s career knows that the Indian batting great is an MRF Pace Foundation reject, so to speak.
The year was 1987. The location was Chennai. Tendulkar, all of 14, visited the Foundation in the hopes of becoming a fast bowler. Former Australian tearaway Dennis Lillee, who was heading the camp there, gave the young Indian a chance, but was not impressed by what he saw. In the course of the week, he did, however, see Sachin bat and smash decent bowlers around the park.
Tendulkar often recalls what Lillee said to him – “forget the bowling and just bat.”
But then, there is an old proverb that goes, ‘You can take the person out of the place, but you can’t take the place out of the person’. It is relevant to Tendulkar as far as his bowling goes. And so, while he specialized in batting, he often rolled his arm in key matches. Batsmen wouldn’t quite know what to expect from his medium pace meets leg-spin genre, and would often end up getting out. It made Tendulkar one of the cricketers to earn the moniker ‘Man with the Golden Arm’.
Fans remember when Tendulkar took three game-changing wickets in India’s landmark 2001 Kolkata Test win over Australia. The match that is known for VVS Laxman-Rahul Dravid’s 376-run partnership, and Laxman’s heroic 281, also saw Tendulkar get the wickets of Matthew Hayden (67), Adam Gilchrist (0) and Shane Warne (0) in the second innings. The Australians collapsed, losing by 171 runs.
In the Multan Test of India’s 2003/04 Pakistan tour, he got under the skin of Pakistan’s Moin Khan, and got the last laugh. On Day 3, the first innings looked all but over for the hosts, but Moin and Abdul Razzaq were starting to forge a partnership.
“Main ise pehle bhi out karchuka hoon, aaj bhi main isko out karunga,” (I have dismissed him before, I shall dismiss him today too.), Tendulkar apparently said to a teammate in order to needle Moin. The Pakistani retorted, “Aaj to main tujhe chhakka maarunga” (“I shall hit you for six today”). “Chalo, maar ke dikhao” (“go ahead, try it”), said Sachin accepting the challenge.
On the last ball of the day, Sachin bowled a googly to the unsuspecting Moin, which crashed into the stumps.
The Adelaide Test later that year again saw a Tendulkar masterstroke with the ball. Although the match belonged to Rahul Dravid and Ajit Agarkar, Tendulkar played a handy role in breaking a partnership in the second innings between Damien Martyn (38) and captain Steve Waugh (42). Sachin dismissed them both in two overs, setting up India’s four wicket win on the last day.
In ODIs, Tendulkar’s best bowling figures of 5/32 came against the best team of the time, Australia, in 1998. Chasing 310 to win, the Kangaroos looked well in control of the match with a 102-run opening partnership. After the top three batters fell, it was all a Tendulkar show in Kochi, as he turned up the heat on the visitors with crucial wickets, including that of Michael Bevan and Steve Waugh.
Tendulkar’s only other five-wicket haul in ODIs came against Pakistan, and once again in Kochi, resulting in India’s win. He broke a promising partnership between Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Hafeez, and went on to claim 5/50.
His heroics in the 1993 Hero Cup semi-final against South Africa at Eden Gardens were remarkable too. He hadn’t bowled a single over in the match until the 50th over. Defending six runs, and with South Africa nine down, but with the big Brian McMillan still at the crease, Tendulkar volunteered to bowl the nerve-wracking last over. He only conceded three to help India seal a famous two-run victory. In the final, they went on to beat West Indies.
The biggest compliment for Tendulkar’s bowling came from Anil Kumble. Speaking at the MAK Pataudi Memorial lecture, Kumble said: “Sachin and I played 122 Test matches together. I never threatened his place in the team as a batsman. But I can tell you he sometimes threatened mine as a bowler."